Mississippi State Football: Compiling the All-Time Bulldogs Team

1st Team: Eric Moulds

Moulds is arguably the most talented player to ever come to Mississippi State as a wide receiver. He only played three seasons for Mississippi State because he declared himself eligible for the NFL draft after his junior season in 1995.

Eric Moulds ranks 4th all time in school history for receiving yards with 2,022, 6th for receptions with 118, and 2nd for touchdowns with 17. He added considerable value to the team as a kick returner as well. in 1994, he was the NCAA leader for kickoff returns with a 32.8 yard average for each return.

The Buffalo Bills would take Moulds with the 24th overall selection in the 1996 NFL Draft. He is the only Mississippi State receiver to ever be drafted in the first round. Moulds had one of the best careers in the NFL for former Bulldogs.

He played 12 seasons in the league, 10 of which were with the Bills. During his career with the Bills, he was selected to three Pro Bowls and named to three All Pro teams. He was the first Buffalo Bill to have more than 100 receptions in 2002 and was named to the Buffalo Bills 50th Anniversary team.

2nd Team: David Smith

Smith played on the same teams as Milner from 1968 through 1970. What makes the career of Smith so impressive is he spent his first year playing as a running back. Despite that, he is still one of the most accomplished receivers for the Bulldogs.

Smith’s reception total of 162 is still the school record. His 2,168 receiving is still good for third on the all time list for the Bulldogs. He caught 12 touchdown passes in the three years he played. His 1970 season of 74 receptions and 987 receiving yards are still second best for a receiver at Mississippi State.

1st Team: Mardye McDole

McDole played for the Bulldogs from 1977 through 1980. He was the best receiver on the team at that time and is easily one of Mississippi State’s best ever to play the wideout.

When he left Mississippi State, McDole held the school record for career receiving yards with 2,214. That number is still good for second on the career receiving yards list today. McDole is still the only receiver in Bulldog history to have a 1,000 yard season.

He caught 116 passes over those four years and his yards per catch average of 19.1 is fifth all time at the school for players who caught at least 40 passes in their careers.

His production led the Minnesota Vikings to draft McDole with the 39th overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft.

2nd Team: Sammy Milner

Milner played for the Bulldogs from 1968 through 1970. Freshmen weren’t allowed to play during this time, or he might have racked up even bigger numbers. Even without the extra year, he still had a nice career as a Bulldog.

Milner is 6th on the all time list for receiving yards with 1,806. He also clocks in at third on the all time list for receptions with 146 in his three seasons playing for the Bulldogs. To top it off, Milner caught 11 touchdowns as a Bulldog.

1st Team: Chad Bumphis

Bumphis was the first top notch prospect that Dan Mullen brought in to upgrade the wide receiver position at Mississippi State. He made an immediate impact and played as a true freshman. Bumphis was a four year starter and helped usher in a new era of passing for the Bulldogs.

Bumphis left Mississippi State with a few school record that are still in tact. He holds the record for most receiving yards, (2,270) receptions, touchdowns (24) and is second for most receptions (159).

Bumphis showed what he was capable of his senior season with a more polished passer throwing to him. During his senior season and Tyler Russell’s first season as a starter, the two put up some big numbers. In 2012, Bumphis caught 58 passes for 922 yards and 12 touchdowns. Bumphis is still the only receiver in school history to catch 10 or more touchdowns in a single season.

2nd Team: Jameon Lewis

Lewis might have been able to give Bumnphis a run for his money had he not suffered a few injuries his senior season. The injuries hampered what was an otherwise stellar career.

Most of the accomplishments Jameon Lewis did in the slot for Mississippi State happened in his junior season. His 64 receptions in 2013 are good for 3rd all time at the school.  He also had 923 receiving yards that same season which is the fifth best total in the school’s history.

1st Team: Anthony Dixon

Anthony Dixon didn’t always get the job done in a very pretty fashion, but there was never any player who got it done more consistently than Anthony “Boobie” Dixon.

Anthony Dixon was the very definition of a work horse running back. He leads the school with 910 career rushing attempts. The next closest is a very distant second place by Michael Davis with 578. The Bulldogs had very little offense outside of Anthony Dixon when he played, so it is understandable why the ball was often in his hands.

His freshman season was 2006 and was year number 3 of the Croom era. Jerious Norwood had just graduated and headed to the NFL, so someone was going to need to pick up the slack. Boobie was the man for the job. His freshman season he ran the ball 169 times for 668 yards.

In his Sophomore season, Dixon helped lead the Bulldogs to their only bowl under Sylvester Croom. He ran the ball 287 times, still a school record, for 1,066 yards and 14 touchdowns. His success was slowed down in 2008 just like it was for the entire Bulldog team. He ran for 869 yards his Junior season.

In the only year that Dixon would play for Dan Mullen, Dixon thrived like he never had under Croom. Despite a one game suspension that Dixon served in the season opener, Boobie managed to set the school record for yards in a single season with 1,391 in 2009. He averaged 125 yards each game and shattered the career rushing record for yards with 3,994. He holds the record for career rushing touchdowns with 42, 13 more than Vick Ballard who is second on the list.

Dixon was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft in 2010 by the San Francisco Forty-Niners. He played with them every year in the league until the most recent season. In the 2014 free agent period, he signed on with the Buffalo Bills.

2nd Team: Tom “Shorty” McWilliams

I had Jerious Norwood pegged to go on the second team, and then my co-editor Josh Barnhill made me aware of this post from FWtCT. This is an example of the players from long ago having their stats buried by players having more games to rack up bigger numbers.

I left Dixon on the First Team simply because the running back who holds the career rushing yards record and rushing touchdowns record needs to stay at the top. But you could reasonably argue McWilliams deserves to be there.

His career numbers won’t impress you. Once again, they only played 8 or 9 games back during this era, which lasted from 1944 through 1948 (he played a season with Army, they allowed players to have more than four years of eligibility then). He had 1,808 career rushing yards, over 2,000 less than Dixon.

But his accolades are as great as anyone who ever played. He was All SEC every season he played at Mississippi State, and Second Team All American his freshman season. The only two games Mississippi State lost during the freshman season of McWilliams, were two games he did not play in.

He deserves a spot on this team. He was one of the best the school has ever had, so I am putting him on the second team.